On the Union Chapel’s stage are a wooden chair, an acoustic guitar and an upright piano. At 8.15 pm, the amiable Patterson Hood ambles on stage and sits on the chair. He’s followed by his Drive By Truckers bandmate, Jay Gonzalez, who accompanies him on keyboards and backing vocals. This is Hood’s penultimate show on his five-date UK tour, and it’s almost 23 years to the day since he last played this venue.
Hood’s excellent album “Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams,” which came out earlier this year, is somewhat of a departure from his work with the Drive By Truckers, more so than his previous solo records. The show opens with ‘The Forks of Cypress’, a superb song from his latest offering, written as a sort of tribute to Bobbie Gentry, and which appropriately has an understated mystery to it. It’s clear from the start that Gonzalez’s ivory work and harmonies complement Hood’s voice and guitar playing perfectly. This is followed by two Drive By Truckers’ songs, ‘Grand Canyon’ and ‘Lookout Mountain’.
‘Uncle Disney’, which Hood explains was his first attempt at writing a children’s song, gets an airing. It was written before Hood became a parent. Appropriately, it’s followed by ‘Pinocchio’, a film that Hood tells us he became obsessed with at the age of six. Because he had teenage parents, his kindly grandparents indulged his passion for it, taking him to the cinema on multiple occasions until he’d memorised almost all the words. Hood admits that initially, he didn’t see his new album as conceptual. However, while mixing the record, he came to realise it told a personal story, tracing his journey from a six-year-old boy to the age of 30, when he moved to Athens, Georgia.
The studio version of ‘The Van Pelt Parties’ is a rocky affair with electric guitars to the fore. In a live acoustic setting, its subtleties become more apparent, as does the quality of the songwriting. Hood explains that it recalls a babysitter he had when he was a kid, called Wendy Van Pelt, who was a young, bohemian painter. The song recollects her parents’ annual Christmas Eve parties and Hood drinking from the punchbowl at eight years old. Hood tells us that he’s planning to record another solo album next year, which will act as a companion piece to his current one. His latest single, entitled ‘Scott’s Sister’, about his mother, is likely to feature on it. Hood realises that his latest ditty, which compares his mum to her fighter pilot brother Scott, is probably not going to endear him to her. His mother never got on with her brother, who, as Hood puts it, was “up in the clouds when you were down on the pavement.”
The poignant ‘Werewolf and a Girl’ recalls Hood’s first love, Amy, and his various encounters with her. It is set against the cultural backdrop of 1981, where the Stones’ “Tattoo You” spins on turntables and “An American Werewolf in London” flickers on cinema screens. Hood explains that he sought to weave both him and Amy into the narrative, forming a delicate duet of perspectives. However, the sensitivity of the subject left him hesitant and scared to share the demo with Lydia Loveless, who appears on the studio version, fearing that it might repel her. However, within two days, Loveless had returned the track. Hood says that Loveless’s voice brought the song to life, and it was her demo vocal that ended up on the final recording.
After a 20-minute interval, Gonzalez and Hood return for their second set. The show recommences with ‘Miss Coldiron’s Oldsmobile.’ The Miss Coldiron in question lived across the street from Hood’s grandmother, Sissy, with whom he spent a lot of time in his youth. With her mental health declining, the song tells the tale of how Miss Coldiron’s brother took control of her estate and limited her supply of money by gaslighting her. However, despite Miss Coldiron not having a driving licence, he did buy her a new Oldsmobile every two years, which Sissy used to drive to the shops. Hood tells us that he spent a lot of time in the back seat of the car, which had a “banging stereo,” on which he heard many classic songs for the first time.
Hood candidly admits that “things are kinda fucked up back home” before launching into a brand new track entitled ‘Outliving America.’ He reveals that he added a fresh verse to the song just two days ago at 4.40 am, no less. The lyrics are strikingly current, referencing “the East Wing coming down and troops in my town”, and reflecting on the unsettling notion that at 61 years of age, he “never planned to outlive America.”
Before playing the Drive By Truckers’ song ‘The Opening Act’, Hood explains that it was inspired by the time he played a solo slot opening for a well-known band in Columbus, Georgia, who couldn’t afford to break up. Hood says that he knew it would be a bad gig when he spotted a mechanical bull in the middle of the venue’s dance floor. Before the final song, Hood and Gonzalez partially disrobe to reveal that they’re wearing UFO and Kiss T-shirts, respectively. Hood muses on the time he saw The Motors, UFO, and AC/DC all on the same bill for a mere three dollars, with UFO taking the plaudits, whilst his much-loved grandmother waited for him in the car in the parking lot, with a flashlight, reading a book.
At the end of the gig, Hood takes off his acoustic guitar, rises from his chair as Gonzalez starts hammering out Elton John’s ‘Bennie and the Jets’, with Hood encouraging the audience to join in the response in the chorus. As the final notes echo through the chapel, it’s clear that Patterson Hood’s honest and passionate storytelling, both spoken and sung, has transformed the evening into a deeply personal, nostalgic, and unforgettable journey. It was a night to remember.
Was at the gig in Dublin a few nights before. Really special night. Loved his storytelling and how he linked the songs together.